Job

Clinical Colorectal and Minimally Invasive Research Fellow 

Practice

Marks Colorectal Surgical Associate
Medical Science Building, Suite 375
Lankenau Medical Center
100 East Lancaster Avenue
Wynnewood, PA 19096
(610) 645-9093 (T)
(610) 645-9476 (F)

Contacts

Suraj Chetty, Current Research Assistant

Time Commitment

One year beginning mid-to-late June 2025

Description

This outstanding opportunity allows a highly-motivated student interested in clinical research to play a vital role at a research-oriented surgical practice and gain important experience as a researcher through this fellowship year. Throughout the year, the research assistant works on a multitude of research projects, markedly improving the strength of his/her medical school application. Marks Colorectal Surgical Associates specializes in minimally invasive surgical techniques and sphincter-preserving rectal cancer management. As such, Drs. John Marks, Gerald Marks, and Henry Schoonyoung have consistently been at the forefront of their field, offering valuable contributions to the literature. It is this dynamic mixture of academic and clinical medicine that affords the research fellow the unique chance to gain meaningful exposure to the operating room, clinical rounds, and patient clinic settings. 

Twice each month, the research fellow works closely with Dr. Marks’ Surgical Fellow to create a presentation consisting of recent interesting/difficult cases, which is then presented to a multidisciplinary panel of physicians at Rectal Cancer Management Conference. About 40% of the research fellow’s time is spent collecting data on advanced minimally invasive procedures in state-of-the-art laparoscopic and robotic operating suites. The research fellow’s primary responsibility is their integral role in managing the practice’s surgical databases and in utilizing this data to prepare abstracts and manuscripts for submission to surgical/oncologic conferences and publications. Such opportunities allow the diligent worker to make significant additions to their curriculum vitae and learn the scientific method over the course of the year. Projects this year have included publishing manuscripts in journals such as Diseases of Colon and Rectum and Journal of Surgical Endoscopy, contributing to a chapter to be published in the "Clinics in Colon and Rectal Surgery" textbook, writing multiple abstracts which were submitted (and accepted) to the professional conferences for SAGES, SSAT, SSO, and ASCRS, as well as helping to prepare presentations for national and international meetings and webinars. 

Please note that this position has an excellent track record of gaining applicants acceptance to competitive medical schools. Interested individuals may apply by sending their cover letter and resume to Suraj Chetty ([email protected]).